Crossing Paths
by twilightstargazer
Summary: She knew him in Hogwarts; wildly popular, overly confident and a massive flirt. Honestly, she'd never expect to see him again when he left school but now he's back and, oh goodness... he's going to be working side by side with her now, isn't he? Slightly AU-ish.
1. Lilies Bloom at Night

**_I know what you're thinking 'She's started another multichaptered fic? At this rate Nai you'll never finish all your ongoing fics!' And quite frankly, that's probably right. But, I like to try and do the impossible, so why the hell not, yeah? Another point to note is that this is another AU only because I'm including an age gap of 3-4 years between Potter and Evans. Because I can do that._**

**_This fic began as a oneshot and then I decided to build on that one shot and well... tada! The beginning oneshot was based off of this lovely gifset on tumblr made by thetroianwar. If you want to see the actual gifset then go on my profile, click the tumblr link and paste this: post/62930719509 right after it._**

**_Artwork by Viria_**

**_Disclaimer: At this moment I own about ten dollars and a pair of socks._**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_'Lilies Bloom at Night'_

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron was a fraught of activity Friday evening, more so than usual. It seemed as though everyone and their uncle was out for a drink. All of the booths and tables were filled while at the bar, people were clamouring for more food and drink. The pretty blonde waitress found herself on her feet the entire evening, having to work both the floor and the bar due to the abnormal amount of people. She was carrying trays of Butterbeer, fish and chips and Firewhiskey back and forth the entire time. Every time someone left, there were at least three people queuing up for their table.

"Catherine! Table four needs another round of Ogden's!" yelled Tom the barkeep as he tended to those at the counter.

"I'm coming!" the blonde witch replied, as she tried to balance two trays at the same time. All in all, the entire building was a cacophony of noise. Pots banged and clashed, people yelled and hollered, bottles clinked and Catherine could have sworn that she even heard a few animals. The entire night she was running from the kitchen, to the main room, then to the bar, back out to the main room and then returning to the kitchen where the routine started back once more without a breather. It was times like this when Tom regretted only having three waitresses.

That was her schedule for the entire night. And when she did manage to find a few seconds of solace, Catherine found herself spending more time fending off unwanted advances than resting in itself. At this rate, she would soon be the one hollering for a shot of their strongest.

When her shift had finally finished, the witch untied her apron, bid farewell to the barkeep and silently swept out of the noisy bar, out into muggle London. She wrapped her cloak tightly around her and kept a firm hand on her wand. After walking for some time, she finally came to a desolate area where she was able to slip into the shadows and apparate to her flat, which was just outside of London.

No sooner had she stepped into the small apartment had a scarlet feather materialise in front of her, bearing a note.

_Your presence is required next Tuesday at Hogwarts for a meeting at 6:00 pm. It would be lovely of you to bring some sugar quills._

The note bore no signature, but Catherine was easily able to tell who sent it. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared in a burst of flames, leaving nothing but the phoenix feather in its place. She quickly set aside the feather, and hurriedly cast the spells to ensure her protection. As soon as they were in their places, she waved her wand again, this time over herself.

No longer was there Catherine, the twenty something year old waitress at the Leaky Cauldron, but instead, Lily Evans, the eighteen year old Order of the Phoenix member. The previously nondescript blonde hair that was cut straight and short grew out, the long locks tangling themselves into curls as they turned deep red while the aquamarine eyes lost their blue tint and became bright green once more. Her face gained a slight bit more of its childish roundness and her body became slender and soft once more.

A surge of excitement flowed through her veins. This would be her first official Order meeting. Dumbledore had inducted her on the eve of her departure from Hogwarts and told her that her first 'mission' was to gather information about which side people are on. And what better way to do so than to get a job undercover at the Leaky Cauldron. It was perfect because, firstly, it connected Wizarding London to muggle London which meant that everyone had to have passed through at one point or the other and, secondly, it was a bar. Bars are prime spots for picking up the newest piece of gossip.

She had been working there for almost three months now and so far there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary. Or as ordinary the Wizarding world could ever be. Either way, it was damn boring. She had never even done any field work for Merlin's sake! Lily wouldn't say it out right, but she was hoping that Dumbledore would change her post.

She thought about the letter again and grinned happily. Her first official Order meeting.

Tuesday couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

Even though the note specifically said 6:30, Lily left the Leaky Cauldron at four and had apparated to Hogsmeade at five. A bit embarrassed by her over eagerness, she walked around for a bit, reminiscing the fun times she had there not months before with her friends, before finally heading over to the Three Broomsticks for a drink. When six o' clock finally rolled around, Lily realised that there was absolutely nothing else she could do to waste time so she started the tedious trek up to the familiar castle while nibbling on a sugar quill she bought from Honeydukes'.

In all honesty, she had not expected to be back within the castle's comforting wall so soon. She had graduated three months prior and had come to terms with the fact that, even though she was now part of the elite underground resistance, the Order of the Phoenix, she was not going to see the place that had been her home for the last seven years for a long while, and that was if she was lucky. A pang of nostalgia shot through her as she walked through the stone halls. She spoke with the some of the portraits who were delighted to see her here again and sometimes stopped and stared out of the windows at the grounds while memories, memories and more memories filled her mind.

So consumed she was in her thoughts was she, that she almost walked into a person.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, reeling backwards.

A low chuckle filled her ears as the person turned around. Lily's eyes widened of their own accord. Standing in front her was a tall and lean man with soot coloured messy hair, specs and a thin, but obvious, layer of muscle.

"S'okay," the man said, his eyes still glittering. He held out a hand for her to shake. "James Potter."

"Oh! Er- Lily Evans," she said, grasping his hand and shaking it, blushing slightly. "I remember you from school," she continued once their hands dropped and they started back walking. If she was not mistaken, the Headmaster's office should be at the end of that particular corridor.

"Really?" he asked, intrigued. "I thought you looked a bit familiar."

"Yeah; I was three years below you," Lily said. "My friends and I thought you were the most brilliant captain Gryffindor ever had." Along with the fact that you were the cutest, she added silently in her mind. She could not forget how her fellow dorm mates used to work themselves into a tizzy over 'totally fit Captain Potter.' Lily would acknowledge that he was good (and a bit cute) but it was nothing to cry home about. However, now that he was older, it was a different story. Lily had to stop herself from staring at him.

"I was, wasn't I," he said smugly, apparently reminiscing about his glory days. She refrained from rolling her eyes.

At this point they had come to a stop in front of the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Do you by chance remember the password? Bloody paper burst into flames before I could memorise it," James grumbled a bit before smiling at her again (and inadvertently causing her to blush a bit once more.) If she was not mistaken, when they were in Hogwarts, Potter was a terrible, terrible flirt.

"Sugar quill," she replied, taking a bite of the sweet in question.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, plucking the candy from her hand and taking a bite of it as well. "Thanks." He grinned at her charmingly. Yep; he was still definitely a huge flirt.

"That was the password, you wanker!" shouted Lily, slapping him lightly on the shoulder and reclaiming her sweet. He chuckled once more at her antics.

"Well you should have been more specific," said James.

"You don't go and take it from someone's mouth. It's unhygienic," Lily sniffed disdainfully, though she couldn't help but soften her expression.

"I only take things from pretty girls like yourself, love," he replied, winking at her. Lily desperately tried to remain angry at him, but it was so hard to do so when he's looking at you in that stupidly adorable way of his.

"Oi Potter!" a new voice sounded from behind them. On instinct, they both turned around simultaneously and saw a pretty blonde witch stalking towards them with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Lily recognised her as Marlene McKinnon, the witch having her been present at her induction those months ago. "Stop trying to charm your way into Evans' knickers and climb up the steps, will you? Some of us would like to be on time for the Order meeting," she said, rebuking him slightly. Turning to Lily, her face softened and she even smiled at her. "Hello Lily, dear. I do hope my prat of a nephew here isn't bothering you too much."

"Nephew?" Lily found herself repeating as she looked between the two of them. Marlene seemed to be only a few years older than James.

"Yep!" said James cheerily, throwing an arm around his aunt's shoulder. The height difference between the two was almost comical, as the top of Marlene's head barely brushed James' shoulder. "Aunty Marly here absolutely adores me."

"No I don't; you're miserable little child. Now hurry up; the meeting starts in five minutes." Marlene said the password to the gargoyle and it slid open with a groan to reveal the spiraling staircase. "Up you go, there's a good lad," she cooed as she ushered him up the steps. Lily could not help but laugh. It seemed so funny that Marlene who was almost a foot shorter than James could order him about and only receive 'Yes ma'am's,' in return. Lily silently suspected that the older woman took a certain amount of joy in this.

Dumbledore's office was filled with people- at least fifty- but the Headmaster himself was not there as yet. James left her and Marlene and went over to where a group of men his age that Lily faintly remembers as the Marauders- a group of notorious troublemakers that plagued the halls during their time. Lily and Marlene walked over to the other side of the room and seated themselves next to an older looking Wizarding of the name Caradoc Dearborn. Lily did not know anyone else here besides the Marauders and Marlene, so she felt a bit out of place when Marlene struck up conversation with Caradoc.

That feeling did not last too long however, as Caradoc soon looked over and began talking to her about what she was doing for the Order. Lily was a bit hesitant to reply (really, who wants to hear about disguising as a waitress in order to get information?) but when she told him, he and Marlene only laughed at her reluctance, telling her that that's where they all start off. He was quick to reassure her that she needn't have to worry about never getting to go out on the field as everyone had to take turns doing surveillance.

Soon after, the conversation erred to an attack that took place not too long ago and Lily felt herself drifting away from it and looking about the room. There were, she noted, several high profile aurors here, including Alastor Moody. He was riddled with scars and was even missing an eye. Apparently she had stared for too long because he turned his head and narrowed his eyes- both the fake one and his real one- at her. She sunk down a bit in her seat. It seemed as though being one of the most famous aurors came with a hefty price. She continued scanning the rest of the group and was delighted to see that there were just as many women as men present.

"What do you think about it, Lily?" asked Caradoc, jolting her out of daydreams.

"Sorry, what?" she replied, blushing slightly.

"The attack on the Edgehill family. Poor things," said Marlene. "They did nothing wrong. They only got killed because they were muggles."

"I read about it in the paper," mused Lily, thoughtfully gnawing on her bottom lip. "The muggles think it was because of a gas leak."

"Oh right!" said Marlene, slapping her forehead. "You're muggleborn, aren't you?"

Lily automatically got defensive. "Yes, I am," she said stiffly.

Marlene seemed to realise how the words came out and her eyes widened as she hastened to remedy the situation. "Oh Merlin, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I'm sorry Lily. We don't think any less of someone being a muggleborn."

"S'alright," she shrugged. The conversation hung awkwardly in the air while Lily played with her fingers. Marlene looked as though she wanted to say something else, but refrained as the fire flared to life once more.

The quiet chatter of the room dimmed as there was the sudden whoosh of someone flooing in. Everyone stopped talking as Dumbledore stepped out of the flames, dusting soot off of his cornflower blue robes. He easily made his way to the front of the room and took a seat behind the imposing desk.

He smiled wearily at them. "I trust that you all had a good evening?" he said. He was rewarded with varying murmurs of assent. "Lovely."

The crowd quieted once more and watched up at him. Lily saw that no longer was anyone laughing and smiling- not even James Potter- but instead they all looked on soberly with the steely look of determination in their eyes.

"I just came from a meeting with the Minister who has assured me that his aurors are working assiduously to rid the world- both Wizarding and muggle alike- of the terror that is Lord Voldemort. Of course," he continued, "This is not anything that I did not already know." He paused in his speech to bow his head towards where Alastor Moody stood with several of his aurors. James had puffed out his chest proudly at the praise. "But for every reward we gain there are ten terrors popping right back up again for us to battle."

Dumbledore went on explaining some of the things that the Death Eaters had done and the things that the Order had done to minimize the damages or even sometimes the prevention of the entire situation on the whole.

Finally, he ended his speech telling them about a tip off he had received last Friday, the reason he called them to the meeting. It was on the whereabouts of a supposed Death Eater hideout and he wanted them to schedule a raid and hopefully take down the potential enemy cell.

"Leading this attack will be Alastor Moody," he said, gesturing to the auror. "He will lead a relatively small team- consisting of fourteen people at most- to the site. However, I will like for some, if not all of you to be on lookout for any sign that indicates that they need help." He then proceeded to call out a list of members he wished to be in the group and Lily was surprised to find her name there.

"My apologies, Miss Evans, for not introducing you," Dumbledore said to her before turning to the rest of the room. "Everyone, this is Miss Lily Evans, a recent graduate of Hogwarts and one of the most capable students I've ever seen." Lily felt herself blush slightly at his praise. "She's been in the Order since June and has been doing surveillance at the Leaky Cauldron." Lily did not know what to do as everyone turned towards her, so she stood awkwardly and smiled a bit as she gave them a half hearted wave.

She did not have to worry about being the subject of speculation for too long, as soon enough Dumbledore had called them back to attention to just go over a few more fine points before he dismissed them.

* * *

"Potter," Moody barked, pointing a gnarled hand at him as everyone exited. James noticed that Lily had looked up when his name was called and winked at her as he shot her a winning smile. Her cheeks turned rosy once more and she ducked her head, walking out quickly, almost banging her elbow on the doorframe on her way out. James realised that he rather liked being the one that made her blush. He walked over to Moody, his previous smile gone and hands stuffed in his pockets despite the fact that he wanted to have them fisted in his hair instead.

"Yes sir?" he asked, standing straight and looking at Moody with a serious expression.

"I want you on Evan's arse come Saturday," he ordered.

James smirked. "It would be my pleasure."

Moody hit him with a book on his head, causing James to wince. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Potter. I meant I want you with her every second when we attack. This is her first time going out on the field. She's inexperienced and you're one of our best fighters," said Moody grudgingly. "Wipe that grin off your face."

"Sorry," he said, ducking his head sheepishly. James looked up, serious once more. "If she's inexperienced, then why are we sending her?"

"Dumbledore thinks that she has 'potential'," the older man snorted. "Thinks she could handle herself, but I rather she not get blown to bits on her first assignment."

"Getting sentimental in your old age, Moody?" James grinned at his mentor.

The man simply grunted and said. "Get your arse out of here Potter before I curse off your bits. That should keep you away from Evans."

James paled and within seconds his heavy footfalls could have been heard as he ran down the steps, Moody's laughter following him the entire way.

"We were thinking of paying Rosmerta a visit. Want to join us?" asked Sirius once James emerged from the Headmaster's office.

"Sure," James replied. He suddenly caught sight of a flash of red hair and could not help himself from yelling out, "Hey Evans! Fancy a Butterbeer?" he called, causing the redhead to turn around (there was that blush again) and Marlene to roll her eyes.

"Er, no thanks," she said, smiling shyly.

James tried to not look too downtrodden at her response. "Alright then. See you around," he told her, grinning slightly.

He watched as she smiled back at him and walk out with Marlene. Sirius elbowed him in his ribs.

"Ow," muttered James, glaring at his best friend. "What was that?"

"What was _that_?" Sirius countered, walking off towards the bar, leaving James completely confused. He looked at Remus and Peter for answers, but the two of them shrugged, just as lost as he was at his mate's behaviour.

"So what did Moody want?" Remus asked once they were all seated around a worn wooden table in the corner sipping Butterbeers, or in Sirius' case, Firewhiskey.

"He wanted me to keep an eye out on Evans," James shrugged, taking a large pull of his amber coloured drink.

"I'm sure you'll have no problem at all doing that," said Sirius, chuckling lightly to himself. He was met with three blank faces. He rolled his eyes. "Never mind."

"I think you've had too much to drink, Padfoot," laughed James.

"Oh bugger off would you," Sirius snapped, grinning at him while he shoved his shoulder.

"Behave, would you," chided Remus.

"I'm sure Rosmerta would love to have her tables set on fire again," said Peter as he took a sip of his Firewhiskey. His eyes watered slightly as it burned his throat.

"Oi! That was one time!"

"One time too many," a saccharine voice said. Rosmerta came forward, her hips swaying slightly as she placed a basket of chips on their table. He smiled at Sirius and leant over to pinch his cheek.

"You're lucky; I only let you off because you're so adorable."

James groaned into his Butterbeer while also trying to conceal a grin. "Careful there, Rosie. His head mightn't be able to fit through the door later if you continue on like that."

"You're just jealous that Rosmerta likes Padfoot better than you, Prongs," teased Peter.

Both Sirius and Rosmerta laugh. "Prongs doesn't mind, does he?" said Sirius, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You boys are distracting me," said Rosmerta, as she fondly ruffled Remus' hair.

"I tend to have that effect on women," Sirius said smugly.

She laughed once more and said, "I'll be back later with another round of drinks; Remus, you're the responsible one here. Make sure he doesn't try to burn down anymore furniture."

"Will do," he said solemnly, though his lips twitched slightly. After a few more teasing remarks from the pretty barmaid, she left the Marauders' table.

"No more Firewhiskey for you tonight," said James. "We do not need another happening of the end of year party we had in sixth year."

They all laugh at the memories and soon, they were recounting the greatest tales of their lives at Hogwarts well after their drinks were done. It was only when Peter announced that he was leaving did the rest of them do so as well.

* * *

_**I'm trying this new thing where I don't procrastinate mainly because this is only going to have five or six chapters at most and they'll all be relatively short (4000 words around there) So you should probably remind me to not procrastinate by reviewing...**_


	2. Live Fast, Die Young

_**I'm back! So who spent their Halloween crying because James and Lily died on that day 32 years ago? I know I certainly was. Thanks to all you lovely people who've reviewed, favourited and alerted the fic and big thanks to my amazing beta, Dee, who makes these things presentable for you all to read.**_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Live Fast, Die Young_

* * *

The raid was to take place two weeks after the Order meeting, which meant that Lily went back working undercover at the Leaky Cauldron. Now that most of the Order members knew who she was - and she now knew who they were - she frequently saw them dashing in and out of the bar. Lily did not bother acknowledging them most times; it would look suspicious if she started up a conversation out of the blue with Caradoc or Benjy, but sometimes someone did notice her, like Marlene McKinnon, who liked to spend her lunch times there with Lily.

"'Lo love," she said brightly as she slid onto a barstool one Friday. "Hit me up with a gin and tonic, would you?"

Lily shot her a supercilious look and brushed her blonde hair out of her face. "Isn't it a bit early for alcohol, Marlene?" she asked, but nonetheless started making the drink for the older woman.

Marlene snorted and glanced down at her watch. "Nonsense! It's a bit past one."

Still looking sceptical, Lily handed her the drink and went on to serve the other customers that had gathered at the bar. It was relatively quiet and Lily was glad that she got off before most of the Friday afternoon rush set in.

After making her rounds, she rejoined Marlene, who still had half her drink in front of her. This was not uncommon. She would come in and order drinks but she hardly ever finished them. Lily suspected that it was merely because she was bored and had nothing better to do with her time. She didn't think Marlene had a job, not that it mattered, as the McKinnons had a small fortune, and she was positive that Marlene could easily survive without doing anything.

"I heard some interesting things," began Marlene, playing with her straw.

"Mmm, interesting as in some cute Auror bloke is getting married again or interesting as in _interesting_?" asked Lily as she wiped glasses. Marlene was notorious for being overdramatic and found the most mundane things interesting. This Lily had learned fast.

"Interesting as in you might be seeing my prat of a nephew sooner rather than later," she said offhandedly, taking a dainty sip of the drink.

Lily almost dropped her glass.

"Wh - what?" she asked, blushing furiously. After the last meeting, Lily was looking forward to the next time she would be seeing James Potter (or Auror Potter, as she had recently found out that he too worked in the Ministry, under Moody), but she would vehemently deny this fact with her dying breath.

Marlene regarded her with amusement. "James might be paying you a visit later this evening. Or tomorrow. Whichever."

This time Lily really did drop the glass and it crashed to the floor. Hastily bending down (and muttering a few choice swear words), she mended it and set it on the counter; her blush, if possible, deepened.

"What do you mean, he might be paying me a visit today?" she squeaked.

"It could also be tomorrow," said Marlene easily, not seeing that Lily could be on the very edge of having a panic attack.

"Marlene!"

"Keep your knickers on," she advised, still seeing no problem. "James told me last night that Moody wanted you to get some practice before you headed out in the field. And Moody put _him_ in charge of that."

"I can hold my own, thank you very much," snapped Lily, slightly irked that they thought her to be incompetent.

"I didn't say otherwise," Marlene replied smoothly. "Moody just wants you to be prepared since you've never been in battle before. Believe me, what you learn at Hogwarts is entirely different from what takes place in the real world."

"I know that," said Lily, as she flashed back to a few months ago. She just managed to shake herself out of the memory before all the details came back to her in a vivid recollection.

"Hey, take it as a compliment," said Marlene gently, lightly touching her arm.

Her brows drew together. "Why?" asked Lily.

"Well," grinned Marlene, "Moody must like you enough to not want you to be blown up on your first mission."

"Ha," snorted Lily. "Not enough if he's having Potter watch my every move."

"Hey, he might be a bit of a tosser - okay, a lot of a tosser," amended Marlene at Lily's look, "But James is a damn good fighter."

"I didn't say otherwise," echoed Lily. "It's just that ... our personalities don't exactly, um, mesh well together."

A well-groomed eyebrow shot up at her admission. "Is that a nice way of saying that James pisses you off?" asked Marlene.

"No!" Lily replied, shocked. "It's just - I don't know; I don't think Potter likes me all that much."

"We both know that you're lying here, Ev- oops, I mean Catherine."

Lily blushed slightly at being caught. "Fine, but I still don't know why Moody can't teach me himself if he's that worried."

Marlene scoffed. "One hour with Moody and you'll be begging for James."

Lily had no further argument and left the woman as someone else down the bar called for her. When she returned, Marlene was no longer there. All that was left in her place was a half-finished - now warm - gin and tonic, as well as twice the payment for it.

* * *

Her shift finished at six and Lily hurried back to her flat, anxious for her meeting with James. She had barely cast the wards when there was a sharp rap at the door. Peeking out through the small hole, she saw the familiar head of messy hair and unlocked it, letting him in.

James frowned when he first saw her. "Evans?" he asked hesitantly, squinting at her form from behind his glasses.

At first, she did not understand his confusion, and then it hit her. She was still disguised as Catherine. "Yeah, sorry about that," she said, letting him in. "I just got back."

James nodded, comprehension flooding his face as he stepped into her little flat. Lily waved her wand and her disguise melted away. "You didn't look surprised when I opened the door," she noted. "Just ... confused."

"You still looked like yourself," he said, scanning her walls. Lily would admit that her sitting room was embarrassingly bare when it came to personal items. "I mean, it was some good Transfiguration, but you still had the same face structure, eye shape. Really, a lot of things were the same; you just changed the colour."

Lily blushed, slightly irritated. "Well, so far no one besides you has noticed."

"Not everyone is as good at Transfiguration as I am," he replied, succinctly. He eyed her critically once more. "I'm guessing it wasn't your best subject back at school?"

"I did alright," she allowed. And then, "I preferred Charms and Potions."

James wrinkled his nose. "Never liked Potions," he muttered before glancing back at her. "Why haven't you asked why I'm here as yet?"

"Oh. Marlene told me during lunch today."

James muttered something that sounded less than complimentary towards his aunt before speaking up again. "Right then; I guess we can skip over that part. Can we Apparate from inside here? No, wait, stupid question, sorry. I just meant if there's anywhere close by that we can Apparate from." He said all of this in one breath, without leaving any room for her to answer his questions, or say anything in general.

"Er, yeah, there's an alley next to the building," said Lily. James nodded and she was just about leave, but then realised that she still had on her work clothes. "Can you give a moment to go change?" He nodded again and Lily left, quickly slipping into a pair of dark jeans and a t shirt. It was quite different from the skirt and shirt pair she was originally wearing, and far more practical. Pocketing her wand, she slipped past him and waited for James to exit before flicking her wand to lock the flat and leading him down the four flights of stairs to the alley. Neither of them said a word as they made their way down the stairs.

In the alley, James caught her hand, causing Lily to jump.

"We have to Side-Along," he explained and pulled her closer. At this point, she was positively blushing, but did not have long to worry about that. Within moments, she felt the familiar unpleasant tug of Apparition and, in the blink of an eye, they were both standing in a field in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"A practice field," he replied, not bothering to turn and face her.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I've gathered that, P- what the hell!" she screamed as she just managed to dodge a hex that he shot at her. Scrambling for her wand, Lily dashed behind a tree as she retaliated, sending a tripping jinx his way. She was rewarded with a satisfying thud and a muffled swear, telling her he had fallen.

Not wasting any time, she immediately disarmed him and pointed her wand at his head.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell that -" the rest of her sentence was cut off as James had grabbed her legs and tugged her to the ground, pinning her body underneath his.

"Rule number one," he breathed, his face mere inches from hers. "If you ever get your enemy in a vulnerable position, tie him up first, ask questions after."

Lily made a frustrated sound at the back of her throat. "Is that what this is about? You're testing me?"

James nodded. "You handled it pretty well, Evans," he grinned, still laying on top of her and seeming to have no thoughts of moving in the near future. "Tripping jinx was good. A bit elementary, but that just means that they wouldn't see it coming. Fast reflexes too."

"What was the first thing you cast at me?" she asked, just slightly curious.

He grinned. "Tickling hex. Didn't want to try anything to risky just in case it hit you and ruined that pretty face of yours," he said, winking at her.

Lily huffed, and tried to remove the hair that had fallen into her eyes. "Brilliant. Now, can you please get off of me?"

The two of them practiced simple defensive manoeuvres for the rest of the evening, and well into the night. James stood in front of her, sending various curses and hexes at her to dodge. Lily was glad that she had changed into something a bit sturdier than the skirt, since she had fallen - or been thrown, or pulled - to the grass more times than she could count. By the time they had finished, it was well after ten.

"Bollocks," James swore as he glanced at his watch. "We have to go." He held out his arm to her and they both Apparated.

"We'll meet up again tomorrow," he said as they walked up the stairs to her flat. Lily felt like her arms and legs were going to fall off.

"I still don't understand why I need to do all of this," she grumbled, pulling herself up the stairs by relying heavily on the banister. Lily glanced out of the corner of her eye and almost screamed in frustration as she found James walking normally, appearing to be in no pain whatsoever, unlike her, who knew that she would not be able to move come tomorrow. "It's just dodging hexes."

"Sometimes a Shield Charm isn't enough," he said, slowing down to allow her to catch up. James seemed amused at her discomfort. "The Death Eaters ... they'll be throwing things that can cause even the best of Shield Charms to break. Dark Magic, Evans. Unforgivables. The best thing to do is dodging and sending a hex at the same time. They would expect you to dodge, but they won't expect the hex. Those few seconds can save your life."

When his spiel was finished, James looked down to see Lily looking up at him in undisguised awe. He smirked. "I'm not just a pretty face," he said smugly.

That snapped her out of her trance. Scoffing, she said, "Please, if there's anyone who's pretty, it's - what's his name again? - Sirius."

"Ha ha," he deadpanned. "Really funny, Evans." They were at her door now. James gently patted her shoulder. "And I meant it before; you are pretty good. For a rookie, at least. Still can't hold a candle to me, of course."

"Ah," she grinned. "The return of James Potter's enormous ego. I was wondering if it was going to make an appearance soon," she teased.

James gave her another withering look. "Get inside, Evans. I'll see you tomorrow."

They practiced for the entire week once her shift at the Leaky Cauldron had ended. James even taught her how to improve her Transfiguration, so her disguises would not be so easy to detect as they were before. At first, he kept her on the more defensive side of things, teaching her how to block and counter most curses. Eventually, she moved over to being on the offense, and the last meeting before the raid was spent duelling. James won most of their matches, but only just.

"You're doing great," he told her when they stopped to catch their breath.

"I'm still not beating you," she grumbled.

"That's because I have nearly four years of training. You've had less than a week and I'm pretty sure you could take on anyone from the graduating Auror class and come off better," he reassured her as he tied his shoelace.

Lily blushed. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not." That was the most serious she had ever heard him speak.

Mustering up enough energy to flash him a smile, she said, "One last time?"

James grinned. Within seconds, they were both firing curses at each other. Lily wove in and out, hiding behind trees and shrubs to avoid getting hit by anything James sent at her. He already proved that he was not going to be afraid of hurting her, as he sent several harmful curses at her more than once already. She had, of course, retaliated with curses of her own and had even managed to graze his arm once, but that was simply because he had lost his balance a moment earlier. She had never seen anyone move as fast and gracefully as he did. Lily was sure that if she actually his enemy, she would be scared by simply seeing his fluid movements.

She dodged another hex and sent a tripping jinx at him once more, hoping to recreate their first battle. He had seen it coming though, and with one easy movement batted it out of the way as he stalked towards her. Having nowhere to run, Lily knew the battle was over - he had won again - but still chose to continue shouting spells at him despite it being in vain.

"_Expelliarmus_," he said, almost lazily as her wand went flying through the air. He did not even bother to catch it, leaving it there on the ground, choosing instead to grab her and press her back towards his chest as he held his wand at her neck.

"Getting there, Evans," he murmured, his breath hot against her ear. He was not holding her arms down and Lily, in a spur of the moment, punched him.

James staggered backwards, allowing her to escape from his clutches and grab her wand, disarming him and tying his wrists together. She laughed victoriously, but it was short-lived, as she soon noticed a dark trickle of blood from where she punched him.

"Oh my god," she gasped, vanishing his bonds at once and running up to him. She tilted his head up, trying to get a better view of the injury. "Are you okay?"

A wide smile broke out across his face.

"That was brilliant!" he yelled, grabbing her around the waist in a huge hug. Lily shrieked in surprise at the gesture, and was relieved when he put her back on her feet.

She looked at him in shock. "Do you have a concussion or something?"

James ignored the subtle jibe and continued to smile like a loon. "We need to tell Moody about this. Honestly, we're all so preoccupied with using magic that we forget that the Muggle way is much more effective. Where'd you learn to punch like that?"

"Um ... my dad. Are you sure you don't want to heal that, Potter?" she asked, looked at the small cut on his chin.

He shook his head. "Leave it be, Evans, I'm shit at Healing Charms. That was more Remus' and Peter's forte."

She faked a gasp. "Something the illustrious James Potter can't do? The horror!"

"You're so funny, Evans. I'm dying from laughter," he deadpanned. Then he threw an arm around her and said, "C'mon; let's go home. We need you in top shape tomorrow." It was obvious that his euphoria from being beaten up by a girl had not dimmed yet. Lily had never met anyone who felt so happy from getting punched before.

Standing in front of her door, Lily brushed a light hand across his jaw where it had stopped bleeding, but there was still an angry red welt in its place. "I feel so bad."

James shook his head and brushed her hand away from his face. "Don't," he said softly. "Just make sure you punch some Death Eaters tomorrow, right Lily?" He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before turning around and walking away as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"S'later, Evans."

* * *

The fourteen who were chosen to go on the raid were to meet Moody in a field somewhere in Devon, just before sundown. They had all received letters, much like the invitation to the Order meeting, which burst into flames after you read it. Lily was a nervous wreck. She tried to calm herself by saying that it was nothing big, just a raid. If all went well, then she wouldn't have to face any Death Eaters. She did not mind training with James to take them down, but she rather it not come to that.

When she Apparated to the given address at around half five, there were only a few people milling about. Moody was there, of course, as well as three other Order members whose names Lily could not remember at the moment, and a middle-aged witch named Hestia Jones. The brunette flashed Lily a small, but reassuring smile.

Within the next ten minutes, the rest of the group had appeared. James was one of the last to arrive, with a grinning Sirius in tow. The bruise on his jaw had turned an ugly splotchy purple colour and Lily winced upon seeing it. He caught sight of her and grinned, seeming not to care about the mark at all.

Moody went through the objective of the mission - gathering information - and proceeded to divide and sub divide the group into several smaller groups until everyone was left with a partner. Lily was paired with James of course, which only made sense since he was the one who was training her. She was surprised, however, to see when Moody gave him a look that very obviously said, 'keep an eye on her.' The older Auror continued listing the names and their duties until, finally, the sun began to set.

"We're in the middle," said James as he weaved his way to her. He seemed disappointed by that fact. James sighed. "I guess that means that you won't get to punch any Death Eaters, eh, Evans?"

"Potter!" Moody yelled as he limped towards them. James' smile immediately dropped and he stood up a bit straighter. "What happened to your face?" he asked.

"Oh, er," he glanced at Lily covertly. "Evans and I were practicing yesterday and she punched me."

Moody regarded it for another moment before letting out a bark of laughter and turning towards Lily, slapping her hard on the back as he laughed, causing the girl to nearly lose her balance.

"Didn't believe Dumbledore when he said that you were more than capable, Evans," he wheezed. "Proved me wrong, you did, girl. That's quite a nasty punch there. Try not to hurt him too much, though. We need him around." He said all of that grudgingly, though there was a faint note of pride in his voice.

Lily's eyes widened in shock at his praise. "I- I'll try not to." With one more laugh, he hobbled away. Lily turned to James to find out what just happened, but found him gaping at the back of his boss.

"He spends two minutes talking with her," he mumbled, mainly to himself. "Two bloody minutes, and she already has him wrapped around her little finger."

"I- what was that?" asked Lily, confused.

James smiled wryly. "That, dear Evans," he declared, "Is something that you never see, so cherish it while you can." He shook his head. "Merlin, Evans, you just got Mad-Eye Moody - one of the most ruthless and feared Aurors in history - to tell you that you're good. If that isn't the highest amount of praise you could get, then I don't know what is."

He did not allow her to finish and instead walked over to Sirius, who was standing with a pretty, dark-haired witch and a burly wizard. She did not have to dwell on that oddity for too long, as less than five minutes later Moody called for everyone to get to their positions.

The forest was pretty quiet, and the only sound Lily was able to hear was James' soft breathing, which was all but drowned out by the beat of her heart echoing in her ears. Their footfalls were virtually inaudible thanks to the wet soil, and they avoided stepping on any sort of twig or branch that may have alerted someone to the fact that unwanted visitors were prowling.

As the forest thinned, a relatively large building loomed ahead. It looked to be a house, but after years of disuse, it had fallen into disrepair. The Order members had gathered in a loose semi circle around the perimeter and, on Moody's nod, six went in and eight stayed out. Lily and James silently and efficiently ran across the grounds and into the house. Before anyone went in, James performed a human detection spell that came up empty-handed, and Lily released a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"_Lumos_," Lily muttered as they entered the house. It was dusty and filled with cobwebs. She and James had the second floor, so they slowly started their trek up to the floor.

It didn't take long for them to find something; a room that held a mountain of various papers, pictures and files. The two of them shared a look and began sorting through the debris. It was not until a few minutes later that Lily had found a list of what looked like the names of pureblood families. Most had scratches or ticks near to them, but a few of names were left untouched.

She showed it to James. His eyes widened behind his specs as he scanned the sheet. "Keep it with you," he said, folding it and handing it to her. He conjured a few boxes and began packing everything into them.

"What are you doing?" asked Lily.

"Getting all of this to Dumbledore," he said as he easily dumped everything in the boxes. "This could be a breakthrough in who-"

An explosion sounded, causing the whole house to shake. James grabbed Lily before she could fall. "Death Eaters," he told her. He shoved everything off the desk and, with a series of complex wand movements, the boxes disappeared.

"Come on!" he yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room and down the stairs.

The battle was in full swing by the time they made it out of the house. A nearby Death Eater noticed the latecomers and moved to attack them, but Lily was too fast, Disarming him, stunning him and tying him up, all in quick succession. James just had enough time to throw a grin at her before he was caught in between two Death Eaters. Lily couldn't help but notice that the Death Eaters outnumbered them by at least three to one.

A jet of green light missed her by mere inches, and she turned to find a masked Death Eater leering at her.

Lily did not know how long the battle went on for; maybe it was a few minutes, maybe an hour. To her, it felt like an eternity. She fought skilfully, using every technique James had taught her, managing to take down three of them on her own. She was also surprised – although still very happy - to note that each of the fighters that belonged to the Order were still standing, still alive, though many of them were riddled with injuries.

Someone came up behind her as she was duelling with a female Death Eater and, as quickly as she could possible manage to without drawing too much attention to herself, crashed her skull into the wall. Everything went blurry and, for a moment, Lily had no idea what was going on before she swayed on the spot, her body finally crumpling to the floor as everything went black.

* * *

James had lost Lily in the midst of all the fighting. One moment, she was standing right by him, her tiny hand still clasped in his, and the next she was nowhere in sight. He continued fighting while simultaneously searching for a flash of red hair.

Then he saw her.

And his stomach dropped.

A heavyset Death Eater - James recalled his name being something starting with a 'B'- stealthily came up behind her and in one swift movement, bashed her head against the wall. He heard himself yell out as he saw the blood trickle down from her temple and she fell to the ground.

He sent two Stunners at the Death Eaters that had attacked her as he tried to get to her fallen form. In his periphery, James saw Moody nod at him and yell to get her out of here. He complied immediately, gently lifting her as he tried his best to fend off any attacks.

"Look at me, Evans," he said as he sent a purple jet of light at a tall, skinny man who was trying to sneak up behind Hestia. He fell to the ground with large welts breaking out across his body.

Lily's eyes were unfocused. "I hurt your pretty face. Moody told me not to do that," she said thickly, the words melding together.

"Yeah, well, it's not my face I'm worried about right now," he muttered. They were far enough so that he did not have to worry about any attacks for the time being. He Apparated to his flat, landing in the middle of the kitchen. He took her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed.

"Don't go to sleep, Evans," he snapped as he noticed her eyelids fluttering.

"But ... I'm so tired, James. Let me get a little bit of rest," she mumbled, her eyes closing.

"You can sleep later," he told her, hurriedly. "Dammit, Evans! Open your eyes!"

"Just ... a few ... minutes," she pleaded."

"Fuck," he swore, fumbling with his wand, eventually managing to create a Patronus. "Marlene! Get to my place now! Lily's hurt!" He turned back to Lily, who lay unconscious on his bed. "Come on, Evans," he mumbled. "Get up." He grabbed her wrist and searched for her pulse. It was there, but very faint. He could only hope Marlene showed up fast enough.

* * *

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